Nothing achieves an impactful, instantly glamorous look quite like a cat eye. With two quick flicks of liner, eyes immediately look sultry — not to mention it's an easy way to fake a wide-awake look when you feel anything but. And even though a perfect cat eye will make you feel as glam as a Hollywood starlet, you can get the look on the cheap by picking up a good drugstore liquid eyeliner for under $10 from Jet — no celebrity makeup artist necessary.
Aside from a bold red lip, there are few makeup looks that come to mind as quickly as a cat eye when going for a glamorous effect. The flicked-out liner is a simple, yet totally transformative trick to have in your beauty arsenal, for days when you want to look polished and put-together, and for nights when you aim to appear daring and effortlessly edgy.
The thing about cat eyes, however, is that they can go really well, or really badly. Pretty much everyone has experienced the awful frustration of painstakingly applying liquid liner, only to realize that one eye looks great, while the other has taken a seriously different turn. While surely some of it comes down to practice — you've gotta keep getting back on the horse (er cat?), right? — it certainly still helps to have a liner that takes the trouble out of the whole ordeal.
The good news is that there are plenty of affordable yet effective liquid liners out there that produce red-carpet quality cat eyes — and several of them ring in at less than $10 a pop on Jet. Case in point, Maybelline's Eye Studio Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner. The jet-black liner, just $6.94, has over 1,000 positive reviews on Jet's site that praise the super-fine tip that makes getting a sharp cat eye impossibly easy. Users also like that the liner dries quickly on lids and stays put, no smudging in sight.
If you're still getting the hang of your cat eye technique, try Milani's Eye Tech Perfection Liquid Liner, $6.97. The unique shape of this felt-tipped applicator makes getting that ideal wing practically foolproof, because you can securely grip the liner as you draw on your cat eye. One reviewer even says a makeup artist recommended the product to her, and now that she's tried it she'll never go back to other accident-prone liners.
Also lauded for its simple-to-use applicator is e.l.f.'s Intense Ink Eyeliner. The $4.45 liquid liner pen is top-rated for its larger tube that's easy to hold on to, and its hyper-pigmented black color. The tapered felt tip is fine at its point but widens to the base, so depending on how you apply your liner, you can achieve a subtle thin line or a thicker, eye-catching look. For a multi-purpose liquid liner, it's a safe (and cheap) bet.
Several more of the best drugstore brands have much-loved liquid liners available on Jet, from mainstays like L'Oréal and Revlon to sensitive skin-friendly Almay. Whether you like to sport a sultry cat eye every day, or you're a fan of winged liner for nights out, the top rated options below are affordable ways to achieve a flawless cat eye every time.
